Ordinance could affect S.L. County employee labor issues

Salt Lake County employees could have new representation on issues of wages, benefits and working conditions under mandates of a proposed ordinance before the council today.

The meet and confer plan sponsored by Democratic Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch would divide about 2,500 non-supervisory county employees into five negotiating units, each of which could choose to elect a negotiating representative or vote to opt out of the system. Elected officials would be required to meet with unit representatives to confer "in good faith" on issues of wages, hours and other conditions of employment. Hatch, who made a previous, though unsuccessful, attempt at creating a meet and confer plan during the administration of former Republican Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman and a Republican-majority council, said the balance of power tilted in favor of Democrats after last year's elections and changes the playing field for consideration of an idea that has a proven track record.

"It was an issue in the election and, quite frankly, elections matter," Hatch said. "The meet and confer model works. … Salt Lake City has had one in place for over 20 years … and it's been very successful."

Unlike the Salt Lake City plan, Hatch's plan does not create a collective bargaining mandate, with its commonly attached binding arbitration clause. Instead, an impasse in the confer process between a labor unit representative and county elected official would be decided by the council. Patty Rich, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees of Utah, Local 1004, that represents about 600 Salt Lake City employees, said even without collective bargaining, Hatch's plan would benefit county employees.

"I think it's definitely a step in the right direction," Rich said. "It's always in the employees' best interest to obligate an official to speak with their representative."

Less convinced of the plans efficacy are the county's two largest unions, the Utah Public Employees Association and Utah Alliance of Public Employees, which together represent about 800 county employees. Kory Cox, a Salt Lake County employee relations representative for UPEA, said last week that his group will not support the ordinance.

"We're going to be opposing the plan," Cox said. "We just feel like it's a bad move. The current system, as is, works very, very well … in our mind, there's no need for change."

Cox said even though the meet and confer plan does not call for collective bargaining, a method UPEA has traditionally opposed, the ordinance would likely pit employees against management, whereas the current scheme allows for "effective and efficient resolution of problems."